Three NCAA tournament wins. Three different Loyola-Chicago players with clutch, game-winning jumpers.

This time it was Marques Townes with the dagger with six seconds left in Loyola-Chicago's 69-68 victory over Nevada to reach the Elite Eight. His three-pointer, assisted by Clayton Custer, gave the Ramblers a 69-65 lead before Caleb Martin drilled a late trey of his own to nearly stage another epic comeback.

In the game prior, it was Custer with the game-winning pull-up with three seconds left to help Loyola-Chicago clip Tennessee. Before that, Donte Ingram's top-of-the-key buzzer-beater made these Ramblers the first Cinderella of March Madness in an upset of Miami.

Which player will it be this weekend with a trip to San Antonio on the line? Loyola is positioned to become the fourth No. 11 seed to reach a Final Four — in its Elite Eight matchup against Kentucky/Kansas State on Saturday.

The point should be made that these gamer winners are not about luck. This team is a serious contender.

And it's not just Sister Jean that makes this No. 11 seeded mid-major so unique and fun to watch. Here's a look at five things that make Loyola-Chicago a unique contender here in the thick of March Madness.

The cohesive clutch gene

As mentioned, there's a different guy who can step up in late-game situations, evidenced by three separate players making game-defining jumpers. Outside of Townes, Custer and Ingram, sixth man Aundre Jackson is the next most likely player to be a hero. And Ben Richardson has played that role already this year in the Ramblers' last regular-season game against Illinois State in which he canned a pair of huge momentum-shifting triples. Then don't count out big man Cameron Krutwig, a 6-9 freshman that plays like a senior with his savvy passing and George Mikan post moves. Coach Porter Moser has a lot of weapons.

The extra pass

There were several possessions from Loyola in this game that could be used for educational videos on the benefit of the extra pass — with proper Rick Majerus floor spacing, of course. It's faster than a dribble-drive move and highly effective when there's a huge arsenal of outside sharp-shooters like Loyola possess.

Those shot fakes

On top of the extra pass, the Ramblers shot fake more frequently and much better than any team in the Sweet 16. It's a fundamental style of play that doesn't compare to the step-back, off-the-dribble three-pointers that Caleb Martin was making on Thursday night, but it's also marvelous to watch when it works out well. Townes' game-winner is a great product of that. Another great example would be on this possession below in which all five players touched the ball before Townes finishes things perfectly with a shot fake into a three-pointer.

Porter Moser's matchup adjustments on D

Moser said after the game in a television interview that Nevada was an "unbelievably hard matchup." Indeed. But the Missouri Valley Conference coach of the year handled the Wolf Pack's athleticism well by countering it with a five-guard look, keeping Krutwig out of the lineup late in the game to offset Nevada defensively and give his team one more shooter on offense. While the move hurt the Ramblers on a key possession in which they gave up an offensive rebound to Jordan Caroline, it proved to be a difference-maker on that last play with six seconds when Cluster penetrated and had four guys on the perimeter all capable of making a big shot. He found Townes...and the rest is history.

Counter punching

Nevada was the comeback king of the first two rounds and threw some monstrous punches in the game's final seconds — almost all courtesy of Caleb Martin's clutch scoring — but what separates good teams from great teams is the ability to respond to another team's huge momentum pushes. We saw that in several instances in this game against Nevada. In the first half the Ramblers started cold and were down 12 before striking back to lead at halftime. Then once Nevada got back in the game late in the second half thanks to an 11-2 run, they responded.

Perhaps Moser put it best when he said at the end of the game in his CBS interview: "These kids are so resilient and confident, you don't know what's going to happen."